GM unveils Cadillac CUE infotainment system! 2013 XTS the first to get it!

Starting in 2012, customers will finally get the chance to experience a more connected and personalized driving with the Cadillac CUE. It manages to offer a wide range of in-vehicle experience that is a combination of intuitive design and information and entertainment commands and controls, many of which are considered as pioneers in the auto industry. The name CUE means Cadillac User Experience, which should immediately tell you what to expect from this new offering.

It can pair information data with entertainment data sourced from MP3 players, SD cards, USBs, and even link a maximum of 10 mobile devices that are Bluetooth enabled, to the vehicle infotainment system. Unlike those in other vehicles, the CUE makes everything simple by allowing customized information, the use of natural voice commands, and even having larger icons.

There are even fewer buttons. A number of luxury cars today for example have 20 buttons that can control entertainment and radio functions. For the CUE however, there are only 4 buttons. At the center of it all is the touch-screen 8-inch LCD.

The screen, which is smoothly integrated to the central instrument panel, comes with a fully capacitive faceplate that is motor-powered. Under it hides a storage area of 1.8 liters. When activated, the LCD screen shows the home page of the CUE, and since it is similar to the screen of a smart phone, the icons that trigger the commands are larger and thus easier to target.

It has capacitive ability, which means it makes use of electrodes in order to detect the conductive properties of many objects, like a finger for instance. In a statement released during the CTIA Wireless Association's Enterprise and Applications conference, Vice President for Cadillac Marketing Don Butler shared that the CUE will effectively change personal transportation by having instinctive technology and luxurious design that is integrated effectively to new levels of personalized in-vehicle connectivity.

For tech-savvy customers, he added, it will have everything that they want from having a full range of infotainment services to having communication and navigation systems that ensure connectivity. It is just as effective for those who are not into technology as the power is accessible, simple, and intuitive, he continued.

Indeed, the CUE is able to adapt to customers, from those who are considered as simple users to those who are fully-connected super users. The CUE will officially be introduced in 2012 as part of the SRX Luxury Crossover, ATS luxury sedans, and XTS luxury sedans.

CUE will debut in 2012 in the Cadillac XTS and ATS luxury sedans and SRX luxury crossover. CUE is designed to be unique for each consumer, from the “simple user” to the fully connected “super user.”

“For the tech-savvy, it’s everything you want it to be – a full suite of infotainment, navigation and communication tools that keeps you fully connected. For the tech-averse, its power is remarkably simple, intuitive and accessible,” Butler said.

CUE, which stands for Cadillac User Experience, will pair entertainment and information data from up to 10 Bluetooth-enabled mobile devices, USBs, SD cards and MP3 players with a vehicle infotainment system that reduces complexity through customized information, natural voice commands and fewer buttons and larger icons

For example, most of today’s luxury cars have around 20 buttons controlling the radio and entertainment functions. CUE reduces that to just four buttons.

“CUE doesn’t replace your smartphone or your iPod™,” said Micky Bly, executive director, Global Electric Systems, Infotainment and Electrification. “Rather it allows consumers to securely store those mobile devices and channeling the information on those devices, along with your navigation tools, weather maps, AM/FM and XM radio, instant messages and emails, through a central portal in your Cadillac, keeping hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.”

The heart of CUE is the 8-inch (203 mm) LCD touch screen, seamlessly integrated into the top of the central instrument panel and a motorized fully capacitive faceplate at the bottom concealing a 1.8L storage area. The vibrant LCD screen displays CUE’s home page, which resembles a smart phone’s screen by using large, easy-to-target icons to execute commands. Capacitive refers to using electrodes to sense the conductive properties of objects, such as a finger.

“CUE is a very elegant in-vehicle hub of all the information and entertainment in your life. All of CUE’s controls use the same design vernac­ular to create a harmony unique to Cadillac,” said Dave Lyon, executive director, Cadillac Interior Design. “Vibrant colours, a piano black face plate, precision-milled buttons, intuitive touch screen placement and sculpted front console provide a spacious, fashion-forward cabin.”

To improve simplicity and connectivity for consumers, CUE will feature several auto industry firsts.

Proximity Sensing: As the user’s hand approaches the LCD screen, command icons appear. Icons can be customized and arranged by consumers to improve ease of use.

Haptic Feedback: Buttons on the fully capacitive faceplate pulse when pressed to acknowledge the driver’s commands and helps keep the driver’s eyes on the road.

Linux operating system, “open” software platform and ARM 11 3-core processor, each operating at 400 million of instructions (mips) per second. This hardware setup offers 3.5 times more processing power than current infotainment systems, and allow developers to write applications to CUE that be downloaded by consumers.

“It’s processing speed and power that make CUE so capable,” said Bly.

Connectivity, Control, Convenience

CUE development began in 2008 when Cadillac designers rode with 32 consumers for six months to study driver habits. Engineers and designers then used the data to develop CUE.

CUE’s LCD screen features the driver’s five most frequently used functions stored along the top of the screen. Along the bottom of the screen, users can select up to 60 favorites from music to points of interest, addresses, maps for directions, phone numbers or system commands, such as “tag song.”

Favorites can also be re-ordered and named to be easily recallable.

The steering wheel contains a five-way controller on the right side to navigate the cluster display, a vol­ume control and buttons to cycle through favorites, while the five-way controller on the left side manages cruise con­trol functions, voice recognition, phone hang-up and heated steering wheel.

CUE’s customization and control features are further enhanced through OnStar’s suite of safety, security and connectivity services , such as Turn-by-Turn navigation, Automatic Crash Notification, hands-free calling and the OnStar RemoteLink mobile application.

Key OnStar features are available through CUE’s LCD screen, gauge cluster and steering wheel controls.